Oil gauge for crank cases



L. L. WHITSON OIL GAUGE FOR CRANK cAsEs July 29, 1924. 1,503,179

Filed Oct. 11, 1920 INVENTQE L. LJ/Vh/"fson I|IN OOI|N L.'WHITSON, U1 VAN NUYS, CALIFORNIA, ASSGNOR F ON'E-BDUB'I'E '1'0 L. EAING AND GEORGE HARDING, BOTH 0F VAN NUYS, CALH'ORHIAI.

on. eaten ron cnenx casns.

Application filed October 11, 1920. Serial no. eiaeae.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LINCOLN L. WHITSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Van Nuys, -in the county of Los Angeles enand State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oil Gauges for Crank Cases, of which the "following is a' specification.

This invention relates to oil gauges, and particularly to an oil gauge adapted for use in connection with motor vehicles for indicating the amount of oil; in the motor crank case.

The principal object. of my invention is the rovision of such a auge which may be eas' y'andquickly applied to any standard type of motor vehicle, which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, and which is positivein its action and not likely to get out of order. g

A further object is the provision of such a device wherein a suitable float is mounted on the crank case of the motor, and has a flexible connecting media connected with such float and actuating a direct reading in-' dicator on the instrument board of the vehicle adjacent the drivers' seat. A further "object is to make an oil gauge having a main float and a reserve float, so that if the buoyancy of the main flo'at decreases the reserve float will make up the deficiency.

The merits of my invention will be more fully set forth in the'following specification,

taken in connection with the accom anying drawings which form a part 'thereo and in which;

Figure 1 is a fra entary elevation of a typical motor vehic e, a portion beingbroken away to show my invention installed.

1 7 is a detail view of the link connection etween the operating wire and chain.

In the drawings the numeral 10 indicates any typical automobile orv motor vehicle, 11

the engine thereof, and 12 the instrument board mounted across the 'front of the body adjacent the drivers seat.

My invention comprises essentially a suitable main float 13, ads. ted to float in the oil 15 in the bottom of t e engine crank top 18. The top of the casing 16 is internally screwthreaded as at 19, to receive an externally screw threaded plug 20; the opposite end of the casin being open as at 21. The lug 20 may be re need as at 22 and externa ly screw threaded to receive aunion nut 23, the latter adapted to rigidly. clamp a tube 24 to the plug 20. The plug 20 has a central bore 25 concentric with the bore in passes. v

The wire 26 extending from the mam float 13-passes through the reservefloat 27 and the float 27 is sufiiciently attached to the wire 26 to hold the float in spaced relation and a slight distance from the float 13.

The wire 26 passes through the plug 20 and through the tube 24 and is ultimately connected to the indicating mechanism including a wheel 28. The main float 13 and thereserve float 27 maybe constructed of'any suitable float material and'preferably cork." {Ihe floats 13? and'27 are loosely The float 13 is mounted vertically ea the tube 24, through which the wire 26 Facelemounted in the casing 16 so as to be 0 erated' 10 by the oil' '15 flowing upwardly into t e bot- T tom of the casing. If the bou yancyof the main float 13 decreases, the'reserve float 27 will make up the deficiency, and in order to accurately indicate the levelof the oil in 10 the crank case, the, connectionfrom the flo'ats' to the wheel 28 musFbe adjusted fronitime to time, as will be hereinafter explained.

A link connection 29, Fig.7, connects the wire 26 with a small .cham- 80, the latter no I adapted to be connected to the indicator wheel 28. The connection 29 has a loop' or e e 31,'and a IBwer tubular portion 32 for t e rece tion of the upper end of the wire 26', the atter being secured in the tubular portion 32 by means of a set screw 33. ,The chain 30 is secured to the link 29 by means of one of its links passing through the eye 31. The object of such a connection is to eliminate all possible friction between the wire 26 and chain '30 and the tube 24.

The indicator wheel 28 is ,revolva-bly mounted in a suitabTe housing 35 secured to the instrument board 12 adjacent the drivers seat of the vehicle. The housing 35 may be of any suitable configuration to accommodate the indicator wheel 28 and its actuating mechanism. In this case it, is shown to be cylindricaLFigs. 3 and 4.. The housing 35 is open at the front and is provided with a sultable front closing plate 36,

j the latter havin flange 37 adapte ing, and

.40 passing through lugs e an inwardly extending to fit in the front openhavi ng apertures 38 for the accommodation of screws '39 by Which it is secured to 'the' instrument board 12. The housing may-be secured to the instrument board 1n any suitable manner, as by screws 41. The plate 36 may be of any suitab configuratlon, and it is here shown to be circular, as in Fig. 6. The plate 36 has a central vertically extending aperture 42, for reading the numerical designations on the indicator wheel 28, as will be more fully-hereinafter explained; and is provided w1th a glass window 43 held in place by means of a flange 44.

A tu ular extension 45' formed integral .With the bottom wall 46, ofthe housing 35 extends downwardly from a point adjacent the rear wall 47' for the reception of the tube 24, the latter beingrigidly. held in place by meansof a set screw 48.

A pair of horizontally disposed screws 49 and 50 extend through apertures51 and 52, respectively, in the front plate 36, and through apertures 53 and 54* in the rear wall 47, of the housing 35; The screws 49 and 50 are screw ,threaded as at-55, and are seicurely held in place by means of nuts 56. A pair of bearings-57 and 58 are adjustably supported on the bolts 49 and 50 and have bearing apertures 59 andapertures 60,

the latter extending at right angles to the axis of the apertures 59 through which the bolts 49 and 50 extend. The bearings 57' and 58 are adjustably held in place on the bolts 50 by means of lock .nuts'61 and 62.

The-indicatpr wheel 28 is provided witha groove 63 1n which 'the chain-30' rides,

I the latter being secured to a hook 64. A

flange or band 65, is formed on the wheel 28, and carries the numerical desi ations ,u

or suitable indicia 66. A shaft 6 passes wire 26, to take up the slack therein, but

- derstood that I reserve the rightto make through a suitable hub 68, the latter being journaled to rotate freely in the apertures 59 of the bearings 57 and 58. A spiral spring 69 is mounted around the shaft; 67, intermediate the wheel 28 and the bearing, 58, and is secured at one end to the wheel 28 and at the opposite end to the bearing 58. The objectof this spring is to cause the Wheel 28 to exert a slight pull on the is not ofsufiicient strength to overcome the weight of the float 27. The wheel 28 is. mounted directly back of the window'43 so that the band 65 and indicia 66 may be clearly viewed therethrough'. The indicia 66 may consist of any suitable designations such as E, indicating empty, at one extrem ity, and F, indicating full at the other extremity, and suitable'intermediate designations such as 1; and i properly sgaced intermediate the designations E and In the operation of my device the float 13 will float upon the top of the oil 15 in the crank case 14, and with the. wire 26 and a chain 30 adjusted to a length to permit the indicator wheel 28 to properly indicate the contents, a variation in the level of the oil will cause thefloat 13 to actuate the wheel 28 in either direction to accurately indlcate thisfact. The connection between the floats 95 and'the indicator wheel may be accurately adjusted by filling the crank case to a definite-pointwith oil and adjusting the indicator to indicate the condition of the oil and then hooking the chain 30 upon the hook. 64

which is extremely simp e, not likely to I get out of order byvibrations and jolts of thevehicle, and which will accurately indicate the amount of oil in the crank case.

While I have here shown and described the preferred form of my device, it is unany changes or modifications in structure which properly come within the scope of; the claim.- a -Having described my invention I claim:

. An oil gauge for crank cases comprising the combination with-an engme crank case and an instrument board,'of a vertical casing forming a float chamber communicating with the bottom of the chamber of the crank case, a plugl' casing and aving a bore, a tube connected to the plug, a housing mounted upon the instrument board and connected to the tube, a main .float and a reserve float in the float chamber, a wire connected the main float closing the upper end of the oan-1e y g i and passing upwardly threugh the reserve under the influence of oil in the crank case float and connected to the reserve float and and adaptedto yield under the weight of ,passin through the tube, an indicator wheel the floats when the oil goes down in the 1 rotate ly mounted in the housing and adcrank case. n

I justably connected to'the wire, an a sprin In testimony whereof I have signed my connected to the indicator wheel to win ,name to this s cification. up the connection when the floats go up NCOLN L. WHITSON. 

